(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
By Fawad Hussain I The Peninsula
Al Sadd clinched the 2020-2021 QNB Stars League (QSL) title with a clear lead of 13 points over Al Duhail. It may not be the case again as 'The Wolves' are expected to face a tough challenge in their title defence in the new season, which kicks off on Saturday.
Though Al Sadd – coached by Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez – will start as favourites to retain the 'Falcon Shield' after winning the crown in a dominating fashion, the new season is set to bring exciting matches and lots of surprises as all the clubs are ready to excel following extensive home and overseas and training camps.
Most of the clubs started their preseason camps in July and headed for overseas training the following month. Al Sadd too started their preparations in the third week of July and underwent their overseas camp in Olot, Spain involving a couple of friendly games. Al Sadd will start their title defense against Al Sailiya on Sunday.
Xavi, who renewed his contract with Al Sadd for two more seasons at the conclusion of 2020-2021 edition, retained professional players including Spaniard Santi Cazorla - Best Player Award last season - Algerian striker Baghdad Bounedjah – the top scorer in the league championship last season with 21 goals, and South Korean Jung Woo-Young and Brazilian Guillerme Torres.
Ghana's Andre Ayew will be the new player for the defending champions, replacing Nam Tae-Hee as the South Korean returned to Al Duhail, who appear to be the main challengers for Al Sadd in the upcoming season.
Al Duhail endured a tough last season in which they failed to win a single title in a season for the first time in 10 years, triggering major changes in the team. They will have a new coach in Portuguese Luis Castro as replacement for Frenchman Sabri Lamouchi.
'The Red Knights, who will open their campaign against Al Khor on Sunday, signed three new foreign players including Tunisian Ferjani Sassi, Belgium's Toby Alderweireld, a former captain of English club Tottenham Hotspur and Tae-Hee after parting ways with Moroccan Mehdi Benatia, Brazilian Dudu and Iranian Ali Karimi. Paulo Edmilson and Michael Olunga will continue to perform for the club.
Al Duhail set up their overseas training camp in Vienna in August and showed some good performance in friendly matches, which include a 4-1 win over Al Sailiya in Doha recently.
Meanwhile, Al Rayyan, who finished third in the last season, will be eyeing to capture the crown under Frenchman Laurent Blanc – a former Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux.
The Lions retained all its foreign players with the exception of Argentinian Gabriel Mercado as Franck Kom, Johan Boli, Yacine Brahimi and Shojae Khalilzadeh stay with the side, hoping to win title after their triumph in 2015-2016.
Al Rayyan, who held their training camp in Spain last month, will play Umm Salal on Saturday and will clash with Al Wakrah, Al Sadd and Al Khor respectively in the next three rounds.
Al Gharafa too will have their eyes on the title after qualifying for the Qatar Cup and the AFC Champions League following their fourth finish on a better goal difference ahead of Al Ahli.
The Cheetahs made a spate of changes ahead of the new season hoping for a repeat of 2008, 2009 and 2010 when they clinched three titles in a row.
Former Italy defender Andrea Stramaccioni will be at the helm after replacing Serbian coach Slavisa Jokanovic. Al Gharafa also changed three of their foreign professionals – Adlene Guedioura (Algeria), Koo Ja-Cheol (South Korea) and Serge Wilfried Kanon (Ivory Coast) while retaining Algerian striker Sofiane Hanni and Ivorian Jonathan Kodjia.
They have so far signed Algerian defender Mehdi Tahrat and are yet to rope in other two professional players.
Al Gharafa prepared for the new season by training in Doha under the Italian coach before a camp in Nuremberg, Germany.
After an impressive last season, Al Ahli under Montenegrin coach Nebojsa Jovovic will also be looking for a strong start to the new season following a training camp in Izmit, Turkey. The Brigadiers have signed four foreign players - Moroccan Soufiane Bouftini from Hassania Agadir, Hossein Kanaani from Iranian club Persepolis, Serbian player Marko Jevtovic and Nigerian striker Patrick Eze while retaining the service of Hernan Perez.
Meanwhile, Qatar SC, who finished sixth in the last season, will be guided by Brazilian Ze Ricardo, who replaced Qatari coach Younes Ali. They made two big deals, signing Spaniard Javi Martinez from Bayern Munich and Algerian Djamel Belamri while keeping Youcef Belaili (Algeria), Anthony Okpotu (Nigeria) and Bashar Resan (Iraq). They underwent their training camp in Serbia.
Clubs, who finished in the bottom half in the last QSL season, are also hoping for a turnaround after hectic preparations and key changes in their squads.
While Al Arabi will be pinning hopes on new coach Younes – replacing Icelander Heimir Hallgrimsson – to bring improvement in team's performance, Al Wakrah are banking on Spanish coach Marquez Lopez to achieve good results.
Sami Trabelsi's Al Sailiya are targeting a strong show this season after bringing three new professionals – Tunisian defender Nassim Hnid, Moroccan midfielder Driss Fettouhi and Norwegian striker Agama Diamond.
Umm Salal, Al Khor and promoted Al Shamal are also looking to challenge top sides as they eye solid performance in the upcoming season.
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